“Earlier today, I wrote to the National Energy Board in support of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project.

“Our government believes this project is good for Albertans and good for all Canadians.

“It will create jobs, spur economic growth, and help fund our province’s transition to a greener, less carbon intensive economy on many levels.

“There is significant interest in this project.

“Our colleagues in British Columbia have restated their position that they want their five conditions met before they will lend their support to this pipeline expansion.

“We encourage Kinder Morgan to continue working with the federal government and the government of British Columbia on these issues.

“I believe there is a path forward for this pipeline to get approved,

but this path forward is not the same failed path Conservative governments have chosen and continue to choose.

“We will not get pipelines built by picking fights with other provinces through the media.

“And we will not get pipelines built by refusing to take action against global warming.

“We will get pipelines built by working collaboratively with other jurisdictions and having drama free discussions about pipelines based on their merits.

“We will get pipelines built by demonstrating clearly and calmly why pipelines help every economy in the country.

“And we will get pipelines built by taking real action on climate change.

“Our climate leadership plan gives Alberta the opportunity to show the world that we can combat climate change while also protecting the good, mortgage paying jobs of our oil and gas industry.

“This plan has brought together an alliance never before seen in Alberta, including leading environmentalists, oil sands executives and First Nations.

“One of the key commitments of our climate leadership strategy is to limit emissions from our oil sands.

“Finding less carbon intensive ways for our oil sands to produce, while also protecting and creating more energy jobs, means investment in new technology. It won’t happen any other way.

“For Alberta to make the kind of investments necessary to transition away from a carbon intensive economy, we need to get full value for our resource exports.

“Right now, we don’t.

“Almost all of our energy resources are sold to the United States, who as a result of the shale oil and shale gas revolutions, have in a few short years transformed from our best customer to our biggest competitor.

“As a result, we are selling our energy products to our only customer at a discount.

“Albertans and Canadians get less value from our natural resources, which means less economic benefit.

“This in turn deprives us of critical public funds necessary to invest in the kind of technology that will be required to transition our economy toward a more prosperous, low-carbon future.

“Building pipelines to tidewater and to new markets, while at the same time taking action to curb emissions, are the two essential components required to diversify our economy, restore our prosperity and assert ourselves as one of the world’s most progressive, responsible and forward-looking energy producers.

“There is much work ahead for Kinder Morgan, as British Columbia has outlined.

“In all of my discussions with them, I believe they are committed to getting this work done.